I'm not superstitous, not by a long shot, but there's something 'funny' with my family and family reunions.

Remember a week or so ago when I told you that my Uncle Richard had sent for his grown children to come to Mississippi because he was very ill and wanted to speak with them while he was still able? Well, he's old, in his 80's, and has been in poor health for a few years, a result they say of hard living and harder drinking (white lightning). So the idea of his passing away, while sad for those who love him, isn't that far out of the realm of normal.

But come to find out, and I must have been on the need-to-know list because I just recently found out, there's plans to have a family reunion this 4th of July in Mississippi.

The first family reunion was in the summer of 2000 in Michigan City, Indiana. That January my grandmother died, and less than 90 days later my grandfather died. The reunion, although sparsely attended because everyone had had to travel twice that year for funerals, went on as scheduled.

The next family reunion was scheduled for last summer, 2004, in Detroit. That spring Uncle Mack was murderd in Michigan City. Then Uncle Gunk died a few weeks later, also in Michigan City. The reunion was cancelled because
everyone had had to travel twice for funerals and no one had the heart to get together for a party.

So now there's a reunion planned for Mississippi. And Uncle Richard is dying. The way things have been going, God forbid, there should be two funerals before the reunion, both in Mississippi.

I'm still on record that I don't want to go down south for Unce Richard's funeral whenever he passes away. And I don't want to go to a reunion in July in Missisippi. What are these people thinking? Mississippi in July!!!

Some of my cousins and aunts have been talking about getting their money up to charter a bus to go down south for the 4th of July. So far it's just talk, no one has done any checking as to prices or availability or anything else.
They haven't even looked into hotel reservations, and they'll need them because too many people are expected to converge on that little town all at once to be able to stay with relatives.

My cousin Gloria Jean is the reunion organizer up north, and one of the other cousins is handling things in Mississippi. I don't think they told anyone about it until maybe three weeks ago as it seems to have caught many of the family off guard. Not to knock anyone, but when you're having a to-do a thousand miles away it's kind of nice to give, oh, say, maybe at least six monthes to a year notice so people can start saving up if they want to go. I don't doubt that a lot, if not all of my kin folk will attend the reunion in Mississippi, but they'll do so at the expense of not making their rent or car payment and then have to scramble for the rest of the year playing catch up.
So if you're planning a reunion or ? and have folks coming from across the country, give them as much notice as possible, okay? It's only considerate.


hugs--
Tawny
www.tawnyford.com

It's that time of the year again when my secret shame--I love to shop at garage sales!--is able to be enjoyed. To tell you the truth, I've been jonesing for a good garage sale for monthes and monthes. All winter, that barren time of year when there are no garage sales, at least not in the cold of Michigan, I've tried to satisfy my bargain cravings by shopping at the Pier One outlet store. There's one in Redford, Michigan, in the shopping center at Telegraph and West Chicago. The store carries all of the left overs from the various Pier One stores around the country. If you hit the store at just the right time, there are deals, serious deals, to be had on some pretty cool stuff. All winter I purchased things for the summer, for my backyard, and it's almost time to start setting those things out.

Now normally I garage sale on Friday mornings. If it's a Friday morning in the warm weather monthes and you call me, odds are good you'll get that message about me being out running errands. And I will be out, but I'll be hitting the garage sales until about noon.

Because the weather has been so unpredictable lately---last week Wednesday it was 83, then it dropped to the 30's and snowed this past weekend--I decided to take advantage of today's sunny and 48 degrees and stop at a few, just a few, garage sales when I was out picking up the mail this morning.

Guess what I bought? A HUGE Tupperware container for $1.00! It stands about 2 feet tall and greatly resembles the containers I buy brand new at GFS for roughly $6.00. Such a deal!

Hopefully the weather will be good tomorrow and I can go out again. Such a small thing that's so much fun.


hugs---
Tawny
www.tawnyford.com

Talking about the buffet yesterday got me to thinking about other all-you-can- eat-places and how they're not all created equal.

For example, there's a Sveden House in Livonia, MI that's not too far from where I live. Talk about a lousy place to eat. The place is tired and dirty looking, the bathrooms are a disgrace even when you're the first one that day to use them, and the food, well, the food is pathetic.

There's a Chinese buffet, also in Livonia, I can't think of the name of it but it's on Middlebelt at Five Mile in the Outback shopping center, and it's wonderful. The place is so clean it sparkles, and the food is excellent.

I'm not exactly a casino person, I work too hard for the money I make to squander it at a casino, but I've been to several of them. The one in Windsor, Ontario, Canada is big and bright and pretty. Their buffet is big too. The food looks lovely but it's not all that tasty. It's not bad, I'm not saying that, it's just not as tasty as it could be.

Now in Detroit at the Motor City Casino, their buffet is a good thing. So many choices and all of them tasty.
The one time I ate there my friends all but had to roll me out the door when it was time to go home (smile).

I know lots of peope aren't all that keen on buffets. I have friends who won't eat anyplace that they have to get up and get their own food. Me, I like buffets because of the choices. I like not having to pick one entree, but being able to sample a little bit of a number of different ones. Same way with desserts.


hugs--
Tawny
248-615-1300

Happy Birthday to me! Happy Birthday to me! Today, April 26th, is my birthday.

Exactly one year ago, on this day, I unveiled the new website and this blog. Just seems like yesterday....

Saturday evening my friends had a big birthday cake for me. One of those cake and ice cream combinations from Baskin Robbons. Chocolate chip ice cream with chocolate cake. Yum!

Today I played hookey from work. I decided that a day as momentous as my birthday deserved to be celebrated in some other way than yakking on the telephone. Not that taling with you wonderful folks isn't fun, it is, I love it but it's my birthday.....!

I like shopping, no secret, so that's what I did. I took my time, something I don't have enough of most days, just like you, and wanderred in and out of stores. I bought some beautiful multi-colored patchwork velvet, five yards of it to be exact. I'm not sure what I'm going to make with it. I just knew I had to buy it, it was so pretty.

I also wanderred around several secondhand stores. The things you can find! Among other stuff, I purchased a pair of bright pink high heels! Talk about snazzy!

I had lunch at one of those all-you-can-eat places. I'm a sucker for that kind of a restaurant. Okay, I know it's not fine dining, but it was pretty darn good and I was able to have some of this and a little of that and some of that over there, too! And I had little bits of about a dozen different desserts. Life is good!

This was at Golden Corral. www.goldencorral.com It's a new (to me) restaurant. They do breakfast, lunch and dinner, buffet all of it.
The food is good, it's reasonably priced and the place was clean.

I had a nice day. Birhdays are a good thing.


hugs--
Tawny

Here's my disclaimer: I am not a movie reviewer, nor do I play one on tv!

However, have you seen the movie 'The Fighting Temptations'? It stars Cuba Gooding and Beyonce Knowles, and has a gazillion musical costars. I didn't catch it at the show when it was new, but I rented it when it first hit Blockbuster, and I've seen it several times since on cable. What a good movie! And the music is spectacular!

Another good movie is 'Fried Green Tomatoes'. Kathy Bates and Jessica Tandy, to name but a few, star in it.

Fannie Flagg wrote the book that the movie was adapted from. Flagg also wrote several other good books, all with a small town theme to them, that are very enjoyable reading.

Speaking of reading, do you use your local library very much? I am very fortunate to live in a city that takes its libraries seriously. We have two libraries available to us, both well stocked with books, dvds, cds and a great many computers that are free of charge to use.

Lots of people say that whatwith the internet now we don't need libraries, they're old fashioned. What a bunch of hoooey! Libraries are wonderful places. If you haven't been to yours lately maybe it's time you stopped in. You just might enjoy yourself.



hugs--
Tawny

Here it is the 24th of April in beautiful Farmington Hills, Michigan. Several days ago we had a record high of 83 degrees! Today it is nowhere near 83 degrees. Worse yet, it's snowing! Yes, you read that right. It's snowing. At times it appears to be a blizzard. Depending on which weather forecaster you listen to, we're either expecting 3 to 7, 5 o 9 or 6 to 10 inches of the white stuff. More than likely, and keep in mind that I don't have a degree in weather science, we'll probably end up with maybe three inches on the ground here. But still. Last weekend I had shorts and sandals on and I was barbecuing outside on the patio. Today I'm wearing long underwear. Only in Michigan, as they say......

hugs,
Tawny
248-615-1300

I've been having a really bad case of dry skin this winter. Every year my hands get chapped, that's a for sure with me, and I lather on hand cream like there's no tomorrow. This winter, wow! it's like no matter what I do my hands and my face, and the rest of me too, the skin is drydrydry.

So in case this is happening to you as well, let me share with you what I'm using that is working nothing short of a miracle for me. Cetaphil. That's the name of the stuff. Non-prescription. I bought a 20 ounce tub of it at Costco for $9.99. I'm guessing it's available elsewhere, maybe Walmart or Target or your local drugstore.

By the third day I was showing marked improvement, that's how wonderful Cetaphil is. Hope it works for you.



hugs--
Tawny
www.tawnyford.com

I know that some of the folks who read my blog are cross dressers. Whenever I can I try to give you a heads-up as to where you can find lovely clothing at reasonable prices in your sizes.

Today's find is---drum roll, please!---
www.BCOutlet.com or 1-888-289-2261 (if you'd like to get on their mailing list to receive a paper catalog snail mail).

This place does closeout prices on merchandise from Lane Bryant, Roaman and Jessica London.

Happy shopping!

hugs--
Tawny



ps And don't forget the other sites I've suggested---

www.silhouettes.com
www.ullapopken.com
www.junonia.com

It was so nice outside today that I had to drag out the barbecue grill and some of the patio furniture. I grilled up some beef bratwurts, and had some potato salad and cole slaw, and even some baked beans. It was good to cook and eat outside. I really missed that all winter. Oh, and I had some carrot cake for dessert.

It was a very good day!


Tawny

I don't remember if I've written about this or not, but within the last few days I heard on local Detroit tv that affordable new homes are being built in the city of Detroit for low to middle income families. And that's a good thing. There ought to be affordable housing available for people. But get this: It's being billed/marketed as affordable housing for low to middle income families, right? But the houses are going to be priced from $150,000 to $200,000! Since when is that affordbale housing for low to middle income folks???

And the price of gas? The local tv stations are all searching for "cheap" gas to tell us about. Cheap gas? Nothing they find is cheap. Since when is $2.11 a gallon cheap?

There seems to be a whole lot of craziness going on.


Tawny

There's a pretty good chance that I'm going to have to make a trip to Mississippi in the next few monthes. I have alot of family down there. In fact, that's where one whole branch of the family originated. My Uncle Richard is sick and dying. He sent word yesterday to his four (grown up) children here in Michigan that he needs to see them. Uncle Richard has been sick for awhile and at his age, 80-something, there isn't a whole lot of getting better. He wants to see his children while he is still well enough to talk with them. My cousins are leaving tonight after work.

If you've been reading my blog fairly regularly you'll recall that I said Aunt Shug was our oldest living relative at age 80. She is, I'm not contradicting myself by saying that Uncle Richard is 80-something. See, Aunt Shug is blood and Uncle Richard is by marriage. Actually, he and Aunt Shug were husband and wife once upon a time, and the four cousins he's calling for are their children.

I'm not looking forward to a trip to Mississippi. And not just because it will be for a funeral. No offense to anyone living in the deep south, but it's HOT down there. And it's a long ride from here in Michigan. And gas is expensive. Not only will I miss about a week of work, but I'll need money for motels and food, and I won't be making any money while I'm gone, and things are going to get all messed up.

I realize I'm whining. I know you're supposed to just do what you're supposed to do when the chips are down, and I will, but I still don't want to go to Mississippi.



Tawny
tawnyford@webtv.net

You know how I was saying I had those two trees brought down? Well, I want to replace them. I think it should be a law that for every tree you chop down, you have to plant a repacement. Okay, not a law because we already have to much government regulation in our lives, but maybe a moral obligation to the earth and it's peoples.

I saw an article in this morning's newspaper about the National Arbor Day Foundation. www.arborday.org When you send them $10.00 to become a member, they send you, among other things, 10 tree seedlings. What a deal!


Tawny

I love to cook and bake.Thank goodness I have friends I can feed or I'd be big as a house!

Last night I fixed chicken roll-ups, basmati rice, green beans, salad and rolls. Not gourmet food, but extremely tasty and easy to prepare.

If you ever want to impress the heck out of your guests, but don't want to go to a lot of work, this is the recipe for you:


8 boneless skinless chicken breasts
8 slices Swiss cheese
1 egg
2 tablespoons water
3/4 cup dry bread crumbs
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup vegetable oil

Flatten the chicken breasts to 1/4 inch thickness. I have one of those food mallets/hammers for this. I place the chicken breasts in a plastic sandwich bag (don't seal it or it'll 'pop') and then beat it flat. It gets rid of alot of aggression (smile).

Place a slic of cheese on each flattened breast. Then roll the meat up and secure with a toothpick or two or three.

In a shallow dish mix the egg with the water. In a second shallow dish place the bread crumbs. in the third, the flour.

Dip the meat in the flour, then the egg, then the bread crumbs.

Heat the oil in a large skillet. Add the roll ups, cook to a golden brown, turning often.

Transfer the browned roll ups to a 13x9x2 oven proof dish. Bake uncoverred in a 350 oven for about thirty minutes.

I serve them with a cherry sauce (don't make that face! it's good!), but if you'd prefer, a nice chicken gravy is good too.

Hope you like them!




Tawny

Here in Michigan, and elsewhere for all I know, there is a huge problem with ash trees. Close to five million of them have been infected with some type of bug and have died. Unlucky for me, I had two ash trees on my property and they both got infected and died.

I had been watching the two trees closely for a couple of years, hoping I'd see some sign of life. These were BIG trees. Wonderful trees when they were healhy. One was on the front lawn and it provided cooling shade for my two front bedrooms and half of the house next door. The other tree was in my backyard and it shaded my bedroom and a goodly portion of the yard.

When it was obvious that the trees were dead I knew I had to have them removed, but I kept procrastinating. I hated to see them go, and I hated to think about what it would cost to bring them down.

Then I started having dreams + visions about the trees. I kept seeing the one crashd into my family room and bedroom. Worse, I kept seeing the other one crashed into my neighbor's house (they have four small children).

So today a crew came out and brought the two trees down. $1,200.

Now I need to plant two new trees.



Tawny